Sometime this week, choose a block of 30 minutes to have a special solo time alone with God. Set aside this time especially for “listening prayer,” a time when you will give God your full attention to listen to whatever He wants to say to you. You will be selecting just one of the short Scriptures below, devoting the full 30 minutes to meditate upon this Scripture through listening prayer and memorization.
“Listening prayer” is pursuing the purposes of God by meditating on the Word & words of God. Praying to God is great! He wants us to share all our thoughts and feelings, all our needs and desires with Him. But we should also allow Him the opportunity to speak to us. It is wise to create space in our lives to listen to God – time that prioritizes His words and His voice over our own.
Here are some Scriptures that help us understand how much we mean to God, and who we most truly are in Him and in His love for us:
- Psalm 139:13-14
- Psalm 139:15-16
- Psalm 139:17-18
- Isaiah 43:1-3
- Zephaniah 3:17
- John 1:12-13
- Acts 2:37-38
- Romans 8:14-15
- Romans 8:16-17
- Romans 9:25-26
- 2 Corinthians 6:18
- Galatians 2:20
- Galatians 3:26-29
- Galatians 4:6-7
- Ephesians 1:3-5
- Ephesians 2:4-5
- 1 Peter 2:9-10
- 1 John 3:1
How To Meditate Upon & Memorize Scripture:
- Select one of the Scriptures above.
- Ask God to speak to you through it. Tell Him you want to hear from Him – His thoughts, His voice.
- Open your Bible to that Scripture.
- Take a deep, calming breath…
- Now read it through, slowly…
- Read it again, this time, out loud to yourself.
- Read it again, this time, asking God to speak to you through it.
- Read it again, this time, eagerly – read it expecting God to speak to you through it.
- Read it again, this time, thoughtfully – pausing to think about each word and phrase in turn.
- If you can, read it again in several different versions/translations. (The YouVersion Bible app is free and has lots of different versions of the Bible you can read!)
Now, MEMORIZE the Scripture:
- First of all, you CAN do this! Don’t be discouraged!
- Start by memorizing the reference (the book, chapter, & verses).
- Next, break the verses down into smaller increments, and memorize each of those separately.
- Then, begin putting the increments together, repeating them over & over until you can say the entire Scripture without looking at it.
- Finally, recite the complete Scripture and reference out loud to yourself ten times in a row without looking at it. Once you can do that…
- BOOM! You just memorized that Scripture!
I am praying for you as you meditate upon the Scriptures above – as you listen to the voice of your heavenly Father – as you memorize what He thinks about you! I am praying that you may come to know how deeply precious you are in the eyes of God. He loves you! He made you, He delights in you, and He wants you to enjoy being a child in His forever family. I pray that you would come to know who you most truly are in God’s love through the Savior Jesus, and that the knowledge of your real identity in Him would give you confidence to live your life, make your decisions, and love other people as the beloved child of God that you are.
Like Trees Planted 